1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to plate assembly devices, and more particularly, to devices for assembling the storage plates and insulating plates of lead-acid batteries in the course of the assembly of battery cells.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The assembly of high-quality lead-acid storage batteries is subject to the requirement, among other things, that the insulating plates, or so-called separator plates, protrude on the upper as well as longitudinal sides by a uniform and consistent overhang, in order to eliminate the short circuit risk which is present when the separator plates overhang on one side only, for example. The tendency of using ever thinner separator plates further increases the risk of such a short circuit.
In the past, the most frequently used approach to obtaining a uniform overhang on both sides involved the initial assembly of elements in such a way that an overhang was formed on one side only, whereupon, in a subsequent repositioning operation, the separator plates were displaced longitudinally such a distance that they are centered with respect to the cell, for a uniform overhang.